Girls' basketball: Season ends for Green Wave

Their season came to an unexpected screeching halt in a MIAA Div. 3 South Sectional Girls Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game against Ashland High School last Saturday.

For the third consecutive year, the Green Wave was unable to get past the quarters and lost a very disappointing 44-40 decision to Tri-Valley League’s Ashland Clockers.

Bob Whitney

Their season came to an unexpected screeching halt in a MIAA Div. 3 South Sectional Girls Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game against Ashland High School last Saturday.

For the third consecutive year, the Green Wave was unable to get past the quarters and lost a very disappointing 44-40 decision to Tri-Valley League’s Ashland Clockers.

Senior guard Ilyza Holman led ninth-seeded Ashland (16-6) with 17 points and Union College-bound senior forward Natalie Leone chipped in with 13 points, leading the Clockers to their unexpected win over the top-seeded Green Wave (22-2).

Senior captain and perennial all-star performer Amanda Hawkesworth nearly single-handedly mounted a spirited second-half comeback all of her own as she scored 17 of her game-high 20 points in the final half.

“We knew that Abington was going to be a big challenge,” Leone noted.

“Our team really battled all the way. It wasn’t a pretty win but we were just a little bit better today.”

“We showed a lot of toughness today,” said Ashland coach Jon Kirby. “I thought our defense played well, but neither team had a great shooting day. It was a battle of who could make foul shots and good defense.”

Both teams started off iceberg cold from the outside as the first quarter ended with the Clockers holding an 8-4 lead.

After a quick pop by Hawkesworth gave the Green Wave a 2-0 lead, Abington couldn’t buy a basket, settling for single free throws from Nora O’Neil and Amy Hackett.

The second quarter was more of the same as neither team could connect from the outside or the free throw line. The two teams traded baskets and were tied at 12-12, before Leone launched a 3-pointer from just inside half court that banked-in as time expired, to put Ashland in front, 15-12, at the break.

“I think, unfortunately, we set basketball back about 25 years today,” said Abington coach Steve Moore sarcastically. “Both teams played good defense but struggled offensively. We just struggled more than Ashland did.”

The Green Wave misfired on 8 free throw attempts in the first half.

The Clockers’ extended their lead to 21-14 with 5:26 left in the third quarter as Holman hit a couple of outside jumpers. The senior guard connected on a jumper and hit a nothing but net long range 3-pointer.

Abington responded with some offense of their own behind back-to-back 3-pointers by senior guard Nora O’Neil, cutting the lead to 21-20. Hawkesworth swished two free throws, giving the Green Wave their first lead since early in the first quarter.

With Abington leading 24-21, Holman responded, making a jumper and 3-pointer in succession to put Ashland up, 28-24, after three quarters. Holman led the scoring parade in the third with 10 points.

Hawkesworth led the fourth quarter Green Wave surge as she hit a pair of baskets to tie the score at 28-28 with seven minutes left in regulation.

After an Ashland timeout, the Clockers went on a 12-2 run behind baskets by Holman, Gwyneth Ivory, Cailee Gazard and Meagn Ianiro, stretching their lead to 40-30 with 2:13 to play in the fourth.

The Green Wave had one final surge left as they ripped off a 10-0 run, closing the gap to 41-40 with 13.2 seconds left.

Hawkesworth was immense down the stretch as she led the way scoring 8 of the Green Wave’s next 10 points.

After Holman hit two important free throws with 13 seconds left, giving the Clockers a 43-40 lead, Leone intercepted an errant Green Wave pass to thwart the comeback attempt.

“I had been in a similar situation earlier in the year against Hopkinton and I made the free throws,” said the poised senior. “I was confident and the pressure of the moment did not bother me at all.”

Holman drilled a final free throw with 4 seconds left to ice the game for the Clockers.

“We knew we were coming into Abington’s gym,” said Leone, who along with Holman, played in the south sectionals as freshmen. “We knew we had to have the confidence to dig down deep in order to get the win.”

There is no shame in losing to red-hot Ashland (18-4). The Clockers crushed Old Rochester Regional, 50-21 in the semifinals on Monday and face Archbishop Williams at UMass-Boston Saturday morning (10 o’clock tap-off) for the South championship.

For the Green Wave, it was a disappointing way to see such an outstanding season come to a close as cold shooting from the outside as well as the free throw stripe plagued them.

“We didn’t rebound the basketball well and that hurt us getting into our transition game,’’ said Moore. “It’s a heartbreaking way to end the season.”